This is a photo of the tree that ate another tree from the inside out... Now the former tree is dead and this tree, which is like a shell is left. It was incredible.
One of the oldest trees in Aburi. It was MASSIVE.
This past weekend was an adventure into the scenic Africa I've been craving.
We loaded up a bus as a group and headed up the winding roads outside of Legon up into a region of Ghana I was shocked to find only an hour outside of the hustle, bustle and smog of the University's surroundings.
The first stop on our adventure was the Aburi gardens. The gardens were nothing like what I expected. We pulled in to the entrance and found ourselves staring at Palm Trees that appear to be 4 or 5 houses tall. From there all we saw was lush green, with meandering pathways to the left and right. For someone who has become accustomed to manicured greenery every day on my way to class... I've been missing the soft grass and beautiful trees of TCU.
Once we were inside the "government owned garden" we went to a wonderful restaurant on the grounds and sampled some more traditional Ghanaian dishes. They served so many of the foods I love here including: jolof rice, yam and palava sauce, kelewele, red-red and cooked cabbage.
In the gardens I tasted cinnamon tree-bark (It tastes like cinnamon gum...) and smelled peppermint plants growing on trees... I saw trees that looked like they must be 500 years old and still growing, and I climbed inside a tree that had been eaten by another tree...
From the gardens we went to a wood carving village. I use the term village loosely, although that is what they call it, because it is more like a wood-carving co-op that has set up shop on the side of one of the mountain roads. Young men and women are being taught the traditional craft of wood carving in the co-op and selling their handiwork in their shops lined up side by side off the road. I was experiencing sensory overload by the time I reached the second shop... the carvings were beautiful... and everything is priced so low... it makes NOT buying nearly impossible.
After the wood carving village we went to a cocoa farm, one of the very first cocoa farms in the country in fact. There we learned the process of cocoa growth and harvesting. Our super-fly-farmer-guide (who may or may not have been wearing a Tupac belt buckle...) cracked open a ripe cocoa fruit (which are yellow) and took out the seeds to let us suck off the "meat"... it tasted like a citrus fruit you would buy in the market and that took us all by surprise. Then he showed us the dried cocoa beans that are within the meat we had sucked off. Lastly, he broke open a bean and let us try pure cocoa.
I learned to love chocolate even more this Sunday. It's a complicated process that produces one of the only foods that can bring me consistent happiness.
When I come back to the states I plan to bring my favorite Ghana-coffee-chocolate in bulk...
More to come.
We loaded up a bus as a group and headed up the winding roads outside of Legon up into a region of Ghana I was shocked to find only an hour outside of the hustle, bustle and smog of the University's surroundings.
The first stop on our adventure was the Aburi gardens. The gardens were nothing like what I expected. We pulled in to the entrance and found ourselves staring at Palm Trees that appear to be 4 or 5 houses tall. From there all we saw was lush green, with meandering pathways to the left and right. For someone who has become accustomed to manicured greenery every day on my way to class... I've been missing the soft grass and beautiful trees of TCU.
Once we were inside the "government owned garden" we went to a wonderful restaurant on the grounds and sampled some more traditional Ghanaian dishes. They served so many of the foods I love here including: jolof rice, yam and palava sauce, kelewele, red-red and cooked cabbage.
In the gardens I tasted cinnamon tree-bark (It tastes like cinnamon gum...) and smelled peppermint plants growing on trees... I saw trees that looked like they must be 500 years old and still growing, and I climbed inside a tree that had been eaten by another tree...
From the gardens we went to a wood carving village. I use the term village loosely, although that is what they call it, because it is more like a wood-carving co-op that has set up shop on the side of one of the mountain roads. Young men and women are being taught the traditional craft of wood carving in the co-op and selling their handiwork in their shops lined up side by side off the road. I was experiencing sensory overload by the time I reached the second shop... the carvings were beautiful... and everything is priced so low... it makes NOT buying nearly impossible.
After the wood carving village we went to a cocoa farm, one of the very first cocoa farms in the country in fact. There we learned the process of cocoa growth and harvesting. Our super-fly-farmer-guide (who may or may not have been wearing a Tupac belt buckle...) cracked open a ripe cocoa fruit (which are yellow) and took out the seeds to let us suck off the "meat"... it tasted like a citrus fruit you would buy in the market and that took us all by surprise. Then he showed us the dried cocoa beans that are within the meat we had sucked off. Lastly, he broke open a bean and let us try pure cocoa.
I learned to love chocolate even more this Sunday. It's a complicated process that produces one of the only foods that can bring me consistent happiness.
When I come back to the states I plan to bring my favorite Ghana-coffee-chocolate in bulk...
More to come.
ummm... coffee and chocolate together - could anything be better. ;) The gardens sound fabulous and the wood carving interesting. I look forward to seeing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteLois
Hi, Alexis. I've been to Aburi, too, and remember it as a beautiful spot. The group I was with stayed in the Volta Region, though, so we came in from the north rather than from Accra. I would also be interested in seeing your pictures, just to remember.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this anywhere in your posts: Have you been given your day name yet? You made it to Cape Coast; are you going to get a chance to go to Kakum Forest? Will you have the opportunity to go to Kumasi? --Sorry, I just get excited when I find people traveling to Ghana.
As a former Brite student and a Nebraskan AND a traveler to West Africa, I'll send you the Ewe version of the greeting: "Wezo!"
Ken Purscell
I would be interested to know what your day name is too! I am glad you are having fun dear. What an experience you are getting! Amazing! I love it when trees eat other trees btw. What shenanigans.
ReplyDelete<3
Well for you inquiring minds out there: my day name is Yaa!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to introduce myself as Alexis and also as Yaa to the ladies at market.
Ken, no apologies needed! I love that you are curious about my trip. We go to Kakum this weekend actually, and Kumase in a month or so. I can't wait! Sorry to let you down on the photos, blogspot is very termperamental about photos being posted. My internet here just isn't fast enough. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For this post, pictures weren't working but I'll keep trying!
Thanks for following the blog!